Her finger is the size of a small performance tip.

The kids are loving the BeyBlades right now. It is basically a glorified top. You can buy different tips for them and there's a stadium they can "battle" in. Some are better than others at battling. Autumn and her girls came over. Connor and I were just sitting there adoring the baby, listening to her talk and goo, and looking at her tiny fingers and toes. Connor looked at and touched her little fingers, turned and looked at me, and said "Her finger is the size of a small performance tip."

Rodeo

Well, I'm torn. We went to the rodeo Thursday night. Connor did the mutton bustin'. I enjoyed most of it. I don't like how they rope calves and I never have. Yeah, I really don't like it. Those poor lil babies. But I found out what they do to make the broncos buck, which I never knew before, and it's mean! So yesterday while I was delivering the mail and had all day to think, I started feeling really guilty for going and supporting this and for letting my kids watch the animal cruelty. At the same time, I have always enjoyed going to the rodeo minus the roping. I was trying to figure out why and I think it's the atmosphere that I like. Just like the demolition derby or a baseball game. I was pondering why so many people like to go. The Fiesta Days rodeo goes for 4 days each year and every year it is sold out. There are rodeos all over the country and all over the world. People just like to go. I don't know if they all like it for the atmosphere. I think a lot of guys like it because of the man versus beast factor. There seems to be a lot of testosterone there. There is all the stuff in between the mean that is fun to watch. I don't think mutton bustin' is bad. Kids riding a sheep. I mean, it probably scares the sheep, but I think the kids get more beat up than the sheep does. Why do we like to watch the bucking bronco and the bucking bulls? My gosh, the chiropractors that must be needed for the riders.....I just don't know. Is it animal cruelty to have a fat man riding a horse? To have anybody ride a horse? I don't think they like giving us rides. I think about all the people that love the fights, too--boxing, MMA, wrestling. I don't like watching people beat the snot out of eachother, but it is sooo popular! Why? But at least it's two people who decide to do that to eachother. The animals don't have a choice. And then I think about a friend that says we are all raising a bunch of wussies. I think it is true. We leave no corner uncovered and have so much stuff to protect these kids. I'm surprised we don't make baby clothes out of bubble wrap. But then, what is wrong with protecting our kids? When I was a baby, my mom would put me on the floor of the car in the back. No 5 point safety, dual harness car seat. I rode in the front without a booster seat before the age of 11. I played with a hammer and nails trying to build a fort when I was 5. I wandered around the neighborhood before kindergarten all by myself looking for someone that could come out and play. And I survived relatively unscarred. Some kids aren't so lucky, but then a lot of overprotected kids get hurt and die, too. I just don't know. We can put our bodies through a lot and we survive. Should we test our limits, or is that just ruining our bodies for ego? Or should we make the most out of our lives--do as much as we can--or should we sit home and protect our bodies so we can live to be a ripe old age? Should we eat well or should we enjoy junk food? Anyway, back to the rodeo. I also think it is a part of my heritage. I have gone to the rodeo almost every year of my life. My grandparents owned a ranch and the men were very manly. It is a part of me. We used to go to Colorado to my grandparents ranch every Thanksgiving to brand the cows. Now that was horribly mean. Should we teach our boys to be manly, rough and tumble BOYS, or should we teach them to be sensitive and good husbands and dads that take part in their kids lives and cook and clean? Anyway, I know that if we don't go, the rodeos will still be sold out and they will still be mean to the animals, but I think I have decided that this year I'm just going to go and enjoy since we already have tickets and this will probably be the last year to save myself some guilt. Should I feel guilty? Augh, torn!

Kids Growing Up

The other day I got done at the post office at 2:30 and went to pick up the kids. We went to the sno-cone place and got sno cones and sat at a table and talked. I had such a great time. I love the kids growing up. I love babies--I love their smells (some of them, at least.) and I love their sighs and yawns and cuddles and little baby bodies and just how they are, but I did have a really hard time enjoying all that stuff in between taking care of them. I can really enjoy babies now that I can give them back to their parents. I get to have a quick hold and cuddle, sniff them and enjoy their little baby sounds with none of the worry. It's great. I wish I could have enjoyed that with my kids more--but, let's face it--that would have only happened if we had a nanny. Now that my kids know how to feed themselves and not run into the road, and talk, and are potty trained, it is so much fun! Josh noticed that they had put new stuff at the sno cone place. There are new table and chairs and palm trees and fans with misters and he noticed it all. Then I got regular size sno cones. I used to have them take the tops off because my kids would dig in and spill it EVERYWHERE. Now they can pretty much eat it without spilling. They can take their own sno cones to the table without spilling or dropping them. Then they all made sure as a group effort that we all had seats. There was no fighting, just noticing that Connor had the most shade. The boys got red yellow and blue flavoring which made a pretty rainbow and Kaytlynn got pink, purple, and red. They dug tunnels in their sno cones with their spoon straws and talked about who had the best beyblades and why. It was so enjoyable for me, I just had to sit there eating my sno cone and smile.

Connor and Ellie

Connor just loves Ellie. She is his best friend. I told this to Ellies mom when they had kindergarten graduation, so she left her phone number with their teacher to give to us later. Somehow the number got lost, so I text his teacher who went to great lengths to get me the number. Thank you Mrs. Moosman! So Connor called:




Then Ellie called him back:



Ellie came over to play the next day and Connor just dotes on her and is so protective of her! I don't know how he learned this. I asked if he wanted to put on his T-ball clothes so that he could be all ready for T-ball and he said "No, I want to look nice for Ellie." Then he chose his own clothes. Kaytlynn really liked Ellie, too, and both Connor and Kaytlynn were taking food and drinks to her, asking if she wanted anything. Then Connor had to get ready for T-ball and I guess Brad said that maybe Ellie would like him in his T-ball gear, so he came out, stopped right in front of her, and said "Hi Ellie" all proud. She looked at him like he was a little strange, but then I think she realized he was trying to impress her and she smiled a little smile. We all got in the van and Connor just had to sit right next to her. We couldn't find the van keys, so we switched to the car and Connor unbuckled Ellies seat belt for her and opened the car door. She kind of played with her seatbelt and Connor was all worried that if we got in a wreck that she would get hurt. I dropped Connor off at T-ball and before he would shut the door, he had to be reassured that nothing of Ellies was sticking out that could get shut in the door. She went to close the door and he was like, "No, no, no. I want to shut the door for you." and after making sure one more time nothing was sticking out, he shut the door. This boy is enamored at 5 years old! It could either be really endearing or really annoying how he's treating her. It would be so darn cute if they got married and we had all this on video!

Kids conversations

In the car after Chuck E. Cheeses:

Me: They tore the 7-11 down where we used to get Slurpees.
Kaytlynn: I love Slurpees. I like the red ones. The red ones are dog juice.
Me: Dog juice?
Kaytlynn: Yep, dog juice. It's good.
Josh: How long until we get home?
Me: 20 minutes.
Josh: Okay, if anyone is still awake when we get there, can you please wake me up?
Me: I'm pretty sure I'll be awake, because I'm driving.
Connor: That root beer will probably keep Josh up.
Me: No, it shouldn't keep him up because it doesn't have any caffeine.
Josh: Connor is right. I'm still awake. (He was out 20 seconds later.)
Connor: If I'm still asleep when we get home can somebody just tap me and wake me up?

Kaytlynn was the only one sleeping by the time we got home.

There was a spider on the patio steps and I had no shoes on, so I asked Josh to get it. He wouldn't, so I asked the kids friend to get it, but he didn't have any shoes on, so out came Kaytlynn to the rescue. She brought a knife out and squished it. It had a juicy body that popped, so Kaytlynn said: "Oh, that was a grape spider." She's done her share of grape popping.

Josh always says "If you don't get me some pizza right now, I'm gonna spank you." "If you don't play video games with me right now, I'm gonna spank you." Makes me laugh.

Camping

I love camping. We went camping these last two weekends. The last time I went before that was before Brad and I were married, so it's been 8 years! I used to have all my camping gear in my trunk and almost every night that I had off of work, I would head up to "my" spot up Squaw Peak road in Provo Canyon. Lots of times I'd get up there at 2 or 3 in the morning, make a fire, have some marshmallows, and go to sleep in my sleeping bag under the stars, then wake up with the sun, the birds chirping and the sound of the weeds and trees in the wind. I think my favorite childhood memories are of camping for a week every summer at Lake Shasta with my moms side of the family. I loved being with my family and boating out on the lake. It was just so fun. I think that's why I want a boat so bad, too. Just good memories.
Camping is a bit different when you are the parent. Still a lot of fun, just different. We went to Mona last weekend with Katie and Micah and their 2 nieces and 2 nephews. It was a blast. Katie brought glo sticks for the kids at night and the lifesavers that spark when you crunch them in the dark. They brought a bag of treats for each of the kids. The front of their truck was the designated crying and whining spot. If you wanted to cry or whine, you did it in there, then you could come out. Brilliant idea. They brought their catamaran. I took each of the kids out one at a time. I took Josh first. He steered while I paddled. He LOVED it. He said "This is so fun, this is just so much fun" about 10 times and he said "I want to do this every day." Connor and I had fun paddling out by the ducks and guessing where they would resurface after they dove into the water. Kaytlynn didn't like it at first, but ended up loving it after successfully maneuvering the boat under the bridge. We had fabulous pulled pork sandwiches made by Micah. The kids had a little trouble getting to sleep. There were cows mooing that sounded like they were dying all night. Josh said he couldn't get to sleep because the fire was too loud, so could I please just go and put it out?
We played soccer and baseball. Brad and I also went out on the boat. It was so nice. I laid down and steered and looked at the snow covered mountains and the clouds while Brad paddled. :) We took a couple of rides in the back of Micahs truck through muddy puddles of water and off the road. The kids absolutely loved that, too. They kept begging for another truck ride. They brought their two dogs, which the kids loved, of course. They found snakes, a mouse type thing, and a crawdad. Good times.
Thursday was Josh's last day of 1st grade, so we headed down to Moab to meet the Brusiks. Brad couldn't come because of work, so it was just me and the kids. We made it in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad! We made it back in 2 hours and 38 minutes. Even better! All the campsites were full because it was Memorial Day weekend, so we were just an extra car at Greg and Malas RV site. We stayed at the Moab Valley RV Resort. They had a bunch of activities: A swimming pool and hot tub, mini golf, life size checkers, chess, and chinese checkers, horseshoes, a playground, and tetherball (yes!) Mala absolutely killed me in tetherball. Back in the 5th grade maybe things would have been different, but we'll never know. Caden and Lola are some of the kids favorite friends, so they had a lot of fun playing together. So me and the kids slept in the van (I wrote can there at first. The van is better than the can.) It was funny because the boys totally wrestled around laughing in the back. It made me smile. Kaytlynn was being a total B R A T. She refused to close the door. I left the van keys in Mala and Gregs camper because I just knew I would lock myself out of the van. I closed Kaytlynns door and locked it, so she unlocked it and opened the door and set off our alarm around 11 p.m. I ran to the RV and knocked on their locked door to get the keys and turn the alarm off. I swear that child is going to kill me off. Soon, too. How can such a cute little girl be so conniving? She can also be extremely sweet. We ended that trip with a bumpy car ride and short hike to a beautiful waterfall. My computer is all messed up, so I haven't got pictures on here yet, but I will try to add them later. Thanks Petersons and Brusiks for the camping fun!!

A Day in the Life of Me

Here was my day on Saturday:

Midnight-7 Work

7-7:30 Pick up Bountiful Basket. We got a cantelope, 3 artichokes, lots of onions, lots of apples, lettuce, 3 mangos, blackberries, 5 pieces of corn, a pineapple, and lots more. We love Bountiful Baskets!



7:30-3:30 Worked at the post office. It was the food drive today. I hardly picked up anything compared to last year.

On the route:



I delivered this:



And picked up this:



3:30-4 Planted the garden:



4-5 Took a nap

5-5:30 Got ready

5:30-10:30 Went to the Real Salt Lake game with friends. So fun!



11-midnight Back to work.